February 19, 2012
Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned of the problems facing Greece if it decides to abandon the euro.
"They have to be prepared to take action to stop euros leaving the country, maybe have border controls," he told the Andrew Marr show.
Eurozone finance ministers are due to discuss a 130bn euro ($171bn; £108bn) bailout package for Greece on Monday.
"They don't have the old currency sitting in the vaults ready to distribute," he said.
"It's not straightforward to leave the euro. It was built without exits."
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls criticised the steps that Germany was taking to support the eurozone.
"For Greece to stay in the euro... means a long and protracted period of slow growth, high unemployment, at a time when the German economy is not really willing to pull its weight - the Germans aren't doing what needs to be done," he told Andrew Marr.
"A messy Greek default, which raises questions that the markets will ask Spain and Italy next, at a time when Germany and the European Central Bank are not able to face up to the common obligations you need in a single currency: that could lead to a crisis in the eurozone, which would be very dangerous indeed."
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